Senator Murkowski: LNG exports are on the Agenda
(PRWEB) July 07, 2013 -- Last month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) held its 2013 Energy Conference in Washington, D.C. The agency reported that this year's event—the sixth annual—drew a record number of attendees.
More than 900 representatives of the industry, government and academic sector gathered in the capital to network and discuss the challenges and opportunities that exist in the U.S. energy sector. Among the topics that were raised at the event, liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports seemed to be on the minds of many.
Currently, companies must receive authorization from the Department of Energy (DOE) to export LNG to countries with which the U.S. does not have a free trade agreement. As acting Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Christopher Smith recently explained to a House subcommittee, the DOE has been receiving an increasing number of these applications due to the simultaneous growth of domestic production and global demand, which has caused prices abroad to rise relative to domestic prices.
At the EIA conference Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the ranking Republican on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, gave a speech emphasizing the importance of handling the export issue in an appropriate way.
"Deciding to export gas should be easy," Murkowski said. "But if we don't handle LNG exports right, there's little chance we'll be able to effectively tackle a hot-button issue like crude oil exports."
The Senator said that she believes Congress may begin working on pertinent legislation as soon as this summer, although she cautioned that any bill passed in the near future would probably leave the status quo in place for oil. Murkowski emphasized the issue's particular importance for residents of her state, which relies heavily on the economic activity generated by the oil and gas industry.
Energy Secretary Moniz: Technology and innovation continue to drive progress
While delivering the keynote address at the conference, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz urged attendees to put their thinking about future possibilities in the context of the advances that have taken place in the past few years.
"We should look back a little bit and see what technology and innovation have accomplished," Moniz said. "That could show us how far we can move in the next 10 years."
The secretary's comment hit on an important point. It is essential for both policy makers and industry stakeholders to do their part in maintaining an environment where such transformative innovation is possible, even if it means exploring deeper into reserves that are currently seen as "unconventional." This is vital to the development of stable, secure energy supplies in the United States.
Chem Rock Technologies embodies a commitment to innovation by continually reinvesting in its core research capabilities to deliver new solutions that facilitate production in the most challenging geological conditions.
Ben Davis, EnerSciences, http://www.enersciences.com, 512-505-4101, [email protected]
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